The rear projection TV market has practically disappeared, thanks to the general lust for flat TVs these days. Sony is out to revive this undervalued and misunderstood part of the industry in style with the simply vast, 70-inch KDS-70R2000.
It's the first TV to use Sony's new SXRD projection technology, a device that enables film-quality smoothness on high-resolution images. For around £3,650, is bigger better?
Strengths
As you'd expect of a TV with such a prodigious screen, the 70R2000 is impressively well prepared for HD. For instance, its connections include two HDMIs and two component video inputs, while its native resolution is a full HD one of 1,920x1,080 pixels. This means it can show HD sources -- including the 1080p/24 format finding favour with HD discs -- without having to 'downscale' them to a lower resolution.
The SXRD projection technology at the 70R2000's heart, meanwhile, helps the TV claim a terrifically high contrast ratio of 10,000:1. And as we'd hope, this translates into some really excellent black levels while watching dark movies like Poseidon on HD DVD.
Also mesmerising is the sharpness with which HD material is shown. The traditional softness associated with older rear projection technologies is not only completely shown the door, but replaced by levels of detailing and clarity that make the pictures of many flat TVs look mushy. If you want to fully appreciate what a full HD resolution can do for you in terms of extra detail and subtlety, this is the sort of screen size you need.
SXRD technology is renowned for not generating any technology-related noise problems, and this can be seen while watching HD on the 70R2000 in complete freedom from grain, dot crawl, blur over motion, shimmering edges, striped colour blends and so on. This helps the experience of watching such a massive screen become gloriously immersive, with nothing to distract you from what you're watching.
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